Battle Up the Turnpike

The Flyers are going to be at the Prudential Center tonight in an Atlantic Division match-up against the New Jersey Devils. The Flyers have played pretty well against them this year, as you remember they opened their season at New Jersey and won 2-0 and also won the second match-up of the series 2-1. This time around, they will be without the likes of goaltender Ray Emery who was simply amazing at times during those times. The Flyers cannot go too much longer without putting some wins together. Losing in this league is tough enough with the way the Flyguys have been playing, but 2 in a row is something they have to avoid to get them out of this slump. They currently sit at 14-14-1 which honestly, is absolutely terrible considering the expectations and talent that this team has. If there was any time to start getting on the winning side of the puck, do it tonight in the division.

As for Thursday night’s game hosting the Senators, it was a good effort from the guys but not enough. Too many penalties, turnovers were abundant, and shooting for the glass and the logo happened all too much. Plenty of great chances even strength and on the power play but they simply could not cash in. Hopefully tonight they do less of that and more of what they can do to win.

Blair Betts and Darroll Powe are scheduled to come back within the next 2 weeks and Gagne has been practicing recently although I hope he comes back fully healed. I like the way some of the young guys have looked personally, especially Laliberte and Kalinski. But we cannot overlook the importance of Powe and Betts who for one are great penalty killers, and also generate some great shifts in the offensive zone with their respective lines. My hope for eventual lines upon their return:

Carcillo-Betts-Lappy = Who can forget what this line did for us during our winning streaks?

Hartnell-Carter-Briere= I just really like this line. Briere has been playing great since his comeback from injury, and I’ve noticed his back-checking has improved immensely under Lav’s new system.

JVR-Giroux-Powe= JVR and Giroux are a great pairing although Giroux is totally fine at being a top six forward. Powe could really work along the boards and set up Giroux to get him to make a play. Of course, Powe and JVR would be down low working the crease.

Asham-Richards-Pyorala= Asham and Richards simply play well together. The few times they’ve been together this year, I just feel like they were doing good things on the ice. Pyorala is also one of the most underrated Flyers at the moment and we can’t discount his play in all 3 zones.

Hope they win tonight. One more thing… here’s an open note to Mike Richards:

SHOOT THE DAMNED PUCK ON THE POWER PLAY!

Also, if you’re into Philly sports apparel, check out Philavania. They have great, original merchandise there and I just recently got the Broad Street Bullies shirt from them. Decent prices and flat-rate shipping. Check them out!

 

First Cuts and Pre-Season Action

The Flyers cut 29 players yesterday. Try-out players Mark Bell and Mark Foster were both cut while 19 of the players cut were assigned to the Phantoms; including Rob Bellamy, John Matsumoto, and John Kalinski. There were 8 players who were sent back to their junior teams which includes goaltender Adam Morrison and forwards Zac Rinaldo. One of the those players sent back was defenseman Tyler Hostetter but he was signed to a 3-year entry level contract before being sent down. It is nice to see for all of us JVR hopefuls that he is still on the roster and still has a legitimate shot at making the team after he’s been turning heads since the start of camp. Full roster cuts are available here.

 

2 Pre-Season Losses and Gagne Returning Tuesday?

Okay so it’s pre-season. Losing deciding games to Detroit 3-1 and to Toronto 4-0 last night. The good things to take from it is that it’s only pre-season, and the lone Flyers point was recorded by James Van Riemsdyk’s goal versus the Red Wings on Wednesday night. Emery was solid in the two periods he played on Wednesday; stopping 23 of 25 shots. JVR and Finnish tryout Mike Pyorala have been turning heads during camp as well as the younger guys hoping to land a spot on the Phantoms on Flyers. That being said, there isn’t much to take from these two games as hockey is a sport where line chemistry is a big deal and we haven’t played most of our veterans together so it is hard to see how they will pan out. They have tonight off before playing at Toronto tomorrow night, however the rest of the games will not be televised like last night’s was on NHL Network.

In other Flyers related news, Gagne is projecting his earliest comeback to the ice will be on Tuesday when they finally play a home pre-season game versus the Red Wings. I’m not holding my breath for this one. His injury is more of a nagging one so I’d rather him get rested and healthy so he can score 40 goals this season. Basically, hockey pre-season sucks and it’s boring.

 

Blair Betts Added to the Roster

With the news on the Flyers site that Gagne has returned to the Skate Zone and begun skating for the first time since his injury comes another interesting pre-training camp quip. Seven year NHL veteran of the Calgary Flames and New York Rangers Blair Betts was added to the training camp roster on a pro try-out basis.

 

Gagne Slated to Return for Camp; Should he?

Good news for Flyers fans: the groin strain that Gagne suffered will not keep him out of the lineup for an extended period of time.

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said Wednesday that Gagne received an injection and can return to the ice in two weeks, in time for the start of training camp on Sept. 12.

The bad news is Gagne’s groin is reminiscent of Forsberg’s ankle.

 

Olympic Camp Starts, Gagne a Casualty

The Canadian Olympic team is holding a camp in Calgary this week to prepare the players to make the roster for the Olympic team whom will see action in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, and Chris Pronger are all in attendance representing the Flyers. However, Simon Gage was injured during this morning’s practice and is expected to miss the rest of the camp. Paul Holmgren gave an update on Gags’ injury a short time ago, and he attributed to a “mild groin strain”. Hopefully it is not going to be as recurring as Briere’s was last season, and hopefully Simon takes the time to rest and get ready for a very important upcoming Flyers season.

He is going to get checked out by the Flyers orthopedic physician tomorrow, so we’ll have more as it develops.